great guns

American  

adverb

1. Informal. in a relentlessly energetic or successful manner.

   The new president has the company going great guns.

---

interjection

1. (used as an expression of surprise, astonishment, etc.)

great guns Idioms  

1. Very energetically or successfully. This colloquial expression usually occurs in the phrase go great guns , as in They're going great guns with those drawings . The expression comes from British naval slang of the late 1700s, when blowing great guns meant a violent gale. Harry Truman used the term in Dear Bess (1945): “We have been going great guns in the last day or two.”

2. great gun . Also big gun . An important person, as in All the great guns came to the reception . This usage is heard less often today. [ Slang ; early 1800s] Also see big cheese .

3. Great guns ! An expletive expressing surprise or astonishment, as in Great guns! You're not leaving now? [Late 1800s]

---

Etymology

Origin of great guns

First recorded in 1870–75

Example Sentences

Again: we’re doing great guns here when it comes to buzzword bingo, but explanations of what Napster’s future business model might actually be are thin on the ground.

From The Verge • May 18, 2022

“Everyone says the economy is going great guns, but that is everything except agriculture and manufacturing,” Goss said.

From Seattle Times • Feb. 3, 2020

Weiner: Best-case scenario is that markets believe that economic prospects are good, and they continue to go great guns, as they have been in the past few months.

From Salon • Sep. 2, 2018

Finau, meanwhile, a superstar in the making, had been going great guns yesterday.

From The Guardian • Aug. 15, 2015

Every time the great guns fired, Isaac said he jumped off the ground.

From "In the Shadow of Liberty" by Kenneth C. Davis